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"1st Amendment Under Siege" Recently last year (May,2016) Arkansas Department of Correction Czarina Wendy Kelly issued a rather fastidious policy that cited newspaper clippings would be banned from prisoner mail, classifying them as (wait for it - with bated breath) "contraband"!? According [ineligible] to ADC (Ay, Carumba! Arkansas Department of Corruption) policy, they are... concerned about drug smuggling but said vitiated policy does not affect newspapers sent directly...

452 Words on Incarceration Prison is a poisoned environment. It leaves no one untouched. It seeps into the pores like mustard gas. It fouls the very air we breathe, polluting it with anger and hatred and bitterness. It creates unseen lesions on our souls, damages our being, eats away at our minds until we have no choice but to shut down all emotion or risk self-destruction. One cannot "care" for another in here, it is a weakness pounced upon by those who prey on misery, a liability ...

99 Days Later Frederick Mason #55487—O56 USP Tucson PO Box 24550 Tucson, AZ 85734 The date (as I write this) is September 12th, 33 days after my last essay titled, "66 Days Later". It was an essay on the continual update of what happened on Memorial Day" Weekend of 2016... now 99 days ago. Since then, I've written numerous essays, chronicling the event, to see what USP Tucson would do in light of an accusation of an officer (Huffstuttler) discriminating against inmates. My...

A Book Review of Writing My wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison by Shaka Senghor by Zachary A. Smith I read this book after another prisoner received it as a gift from his mother. The first thing that stood out to me was Shaka Senghor's (aka James White) claim that out of respect for the victims‘ family and their privacy, he changed the name of the man he killed. If Shaka truly wanteﬁ to show respect for the man he killed, wouldn't he have honored it insteaﬁ of...

Sunday, December 18, 2016 A Failed Intervention? "History teaches us that men and nations behave Wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives." -- Abba Eban Here's a story I've been wanting to tell for a while now but just figured people wouldn't believe it - - either that or they would think I was nuts. But I'm beyond caring about that anymore and I believe it really is something interesting to consider. So here goes; readers can make of it what they w...

A Loss of Memory? In a recent Esquire article entitled "The Cold Open" by long-time contributor Charles P. Pierce, we are reminded of the power of memory, of our mandate public witness to history and politics, and our obligation to join together with others in order to shape a better future for our nation and our world. Pierce invokes the prescient words of Czech author Milon Kundera, who saw the struggle for independence from Soviet domination as one of "man against power... m...

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful By Shakkir Talib Muj ahid A Message to the Incarcerated Muslim I am sad today, for the Message I bring has been shouted through the halls and walls of these universities for years. “Say, You Believe in Allah and Stand ﬁrm on it.” .1 don’t know that many of you know what this actually means. It appears that you have let your life of anger, deceit, distrust, hate, greed and lust for power, control and fame make you b...

A Polygraph Nation "When you fail your polygraph test, we're going to string you by your balls,’ exclaimed police detectives. All that I have ever wanted to do from the first second, when false allegations were made against me, was to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Most shocking, was when I realized that these police detectives were not very happy with me when results came in after my first polygraph saying that I had passed. They simply were pissed off ...

John Alan Parvin CA April 7, 2015 Dear, Editor; APWA First and foremost, give all you my utmost respects and may the light shine on you, within the quality of your life. A Prisoners World-View Upon the Discovery of Insight The first sign of intelligence will show, is when thinking rational, thus, selective few will in the beginning of their incarceration, start by reviewing and rewind their life's. Some come into realization and understanding upon "the errors of their ways", al...

A SHORT COMMENTARY ON NORDSTROM V. RYAN; THE READING OF LEGAL MAIL BY PRISON STAFF by Gardner, September 16, 2014 The APWA seeks ‘essays’ about personal experiences; a recent Ninth Circuit case reminds me about prison mail improprieties in a related very unpleasant experience. I write to point out what the judges DIDN'T think about in their decision, hoping that my opinion might be pointed out in some future opportunity. The case is Nordstrom v. Ryan, 2014 DJDAR 106131, a federal 1983 (c...

Bednago Harper "A Sporting Chance" Much, much more than just sport and athletics to pass the time, after school activities like football, basketball, and baseball can go a long way in helping to instill responsibility, personal growth and many other life-shaping virtues in young people growing up in troubled areas of inner cities. When a young person knows better, that young person is more likely to do better. Let's just face it. A great many of our young people aren't bei...

A VIEW FROM THE BOTTOM by Burl N. Corbett The legal profession loves to quote the hoary aphorism "We are a nation of laws" to wheedle the rest of us into sanctioning their self—appointed role as our protector. The platitude's bitter truth, however, soon becomes apparent to those accused of a crime when he or she finds themself charged with not only the primary offense, but a slumgullion of barely applicable sister charges, an obnoxious practice of flinging every conceivable all...

Title: A.D.C. The Beast by Daniel Hagen The Public's "keep them locked up" mentality leads to a distorted view of incarceration and the perceived purpose of an objective correctional system. The sex offenders situation draws attention to the stagnated state of human sexuality, natures and suppressed sexual instincts whose opportunities in life have been permanently diminished by the loss of rights, morally policed by the same system that the delusionally institutionalized penal...

Page 1 A.P.W.A.--Essay I was raised by a mom the first 6 years of my life mostly because my Dad was not given the chance to; I seen my first injustice at 6 years old when a guy who was not my Dad killed my Mother in the middle of the night to steal the drugs that she was selling. Then, I went and hid under the bed until I fell asleep. Then, I woke up and rode my bike until I found a lady named Beverly (or Beth)--one of the two who called the police. The police are telling me after 30 minutes ...

Conscious Prisoner ~ the Evolution of Uhuru Abruptly transferred from Buckingham Correctional Center to Sussex 2 State Prison By Uhuru B. Rowe September 5, 2016 uhururowe76@yahoo.com Greetings to all of you. I pray that all of you are well and that you remain full of love and hope as we struggle to survive and thrive in a system which seeks to spread fear, hate, distrust and division among the people of the Earth. This post is somewhat of an extension of my August 27th post titled "Deja ...

Administrative Segregation: Is It Torture??? I have been in segregation since April 29, 2016, at this time I have been in my dismal crypt for 6 months. I am just beginning an indefinite term. My earliest possible release is September 9, 2017, which'll be 17 months before I even qualify for release into a 'transitional housing unit'. I could be in the hole nearing 2 years or an indeterminate term if the Deputy Director of Missouri's prison system grants me the 'privile...

"Against the System" by David Bomber It is hard to pinpoint exactly how things went wrong. Perhaps it had something to do with the choices I made, or maybe there were some contributing factors that ultimately lead to the position that I am currently in, but that is nothing short of conjecture. What I do know for certain is that things spiraled out of control, and as a result, I found myself fighting for my freedom. Since I lost my bid for freedom, I have continued to fight relentles...

American Prisoner - X It is said that if you want to see the scum of the earth, then just watch the changing of the guard, at any max. security Federal Prison, i.e., United States Penitentiary (Federal Bureau of Prisons). I ask you then, who will guard...the guards?? I was 21-yrs. old when I landed in the Calif. Dept. of Corrections/CA. state Prison System. For me, it was "finishing school". At that point I had no G.E.D., never paid into social security, filed for income tax or vote...

Bednago Harper An excerpt from my novel "Neutral" The Journey Manifest Book I "Not that it really matters, but I find myself very, very, Very disturbed by many of the things that I have witnessed during this time. I hope and I pray that this will be the last time that I will ever be incarcerated. I've grown to suspect that my incarceration was preordained by my Higher Power as a sacrificial expenditure for me to gain the COSTLY knowledge of which to measure the PRICELESS v...

An Irrepairable Mind? In this notification it is my intentions to convey to you certain indisputable facts that should be considered, as well as pose logical questions that are indeed in need of sincere answer. To whom can it be said to have an "irrepairable mind"? Is it the "criminal" who at a young age imitated some of his T.V./movie star idols - by finding a gun - and shooting a person and now sits in prison for life? Is it the person who robbed a bank? Invaded a home? ...

10/2/2017 ...And Just us Fall (...And Justice for All) I am a prisoner here in the Florida Department of Corrections. Although my incarceration began in 1999, I had not received treatment of mental illness until 2007, after an attempted suicide. It's strange how most people with mental disorders tend to believe they're fine, and it's everyone else who's nutty. Atleast, this is the prisoner's philosophy. Ironically, the Florida Department of Mental Health Services defi...